The NWSL's Most Valuable Teams 2025

Forbes

4 days ago

When Michele Kang bought the National Women's Soccer League's Washington Spirit in 2022 for $35 million, the price was a shock in a sport whose clubs had historically traded for less than $5 million. Over the past year, however, a slew of transactions have made that deal look like a bargain. Five teams changed hands for at least $58 million, led by Angel City FC at $250 million, and Denver was selected as the NWSL's latest expansion franchise in January for a $110 million fee.
Months later, even those revved-up numbers are looking a little sluggish.
Valuing the NWSL's teams for the first time ever, Forbes now estimates that all 14 clubs are worth at least $70 million, with an average of $134 million. Angel City leads the way at $280 million—up $30 million from the sale that closed in September as the Los Angeles-based team continues to project growth for its sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales—and the Kansas City Current are right behind at $275 million as they capitalize on a transformative new stadium.
The two clubs have a significant revenue advantage on the rest of the league, with Angel City recording an estimated $35 million in 2024 and Kansas City banking $36 million—while projecting a jump to $45 million for 2025. By contrast, the next-best revenue figure last season was San Diego Wave FC's estimated $24 million, and eight clubs sat at $10 million or below.
Still, even the teams near the bottom of the financial standings are on the upswing, and league-wide, the NWSL posted a regular-season attendance record with more than 2 million fans in 2024, or an average of roughly 11,250 per game, up 6% from 2023. Television viewership also surged to a record 18.7 million—five times 2023's total—in the first year of a new package of national media rights deals with CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Networks' Ion.
The momentum is attracting a new class of investor to the league. The buyers in the Angel City deal, for example, were Willow Bay and her husband, Bob Iger—who, as CEO of ESPN parent Disney, would seem to have strong insight into the NWSL's viability as a media property. Meanwhile, Portland Thorns FC sold for $63 million in July to Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who are also behind the city's WNBA expansion team, and private equity billionaire Lauren Leichtman bought the Wave for a weighted average of $113 million in a two-stage process that wrapped up in October. Then came a deal in April for the Utah Royals, purchased along with MLS's Real Salt Lake and real estate assets for roughly $600 million by billionaire former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller.
In another sign that these acquisitions are not mere vanity or ego, the NWSL has enticed institutional investors. June's $58 million sale of Seattle Reign FC brought in not only MLS team owner Adrian Hanauer but also Carlyle, an investment firm managing $453 billion in assets. And the ownership group of the most recent expansion team to take the field, the San Francisco area's Bay FC, is led by Sixth Street, which has more than $100 billion in assets under management.
'If you're a business person and you look at sports investment as an asset class, I do not actually see a world where it could justifiably be viewed through the lens of DEI and social cause,' NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman recently told Forbes. 'It is the same fundamental business as the men's leagues who have achieved incredible growth via the same exact investments and revenue streams that we have already begun to tap, and in many ways remain untapped. And I think that's why you're seeing the valuations continue to be validated.'
For now, NWSL teams' losses remain substantial, often exceeding $10 million annually, according to league insiders, and only the Current expect to break even on an operating basis this year. But even more established sports are not always profitable—for example, Forbes estimates 16 of MLS's 29 teams were in the red last season—and NWSL investors are keeping a startup mindset, focusing on the upward trajectory of women's soccer.
One major advantage for the NWSL is that, unlike MLS, the league is widely recognized as the world's best, with a deep roster of elite talent. And the business wins are starting to pile up as well. Over the last year, the NWSL has added blue-chip sponsors including AT&T and Google, and its new national media deals were for $240 million over four years—roughly 60 times its previous fees. The league also has the option of supplementing that package by selling an additional broadcast slate of games, with Mark Lazarus, CEO of Comcast spinoff Versant, recently telling CNBC that he had had talks with the NWSL.
League expenses, including production costs and marketing, are eating up most of the TV money, but the NWSL intentionally kept its agreements short. If ratings continue to climb, the league will be able to head back to the negotiating table soon to take advantage—and if that means another major step up in broadcast fees starting in 2028, the league office could start paying out distributions that would make a big difference on teams' balance sheets.
'I only invest in teams and leagues where I believe league-level revenues are going to go up and to the right, heavily driven by media revenue to this point,' says Kara Nortman, who cofounded Angel City FC and is now buying up stakes in other women's teams as a managing partner of investment fund Monarch Collective. 'It's really important to making these businesses work predictably, being able to invest in the player experience, the fan experience, the whole thing.'
The NWSL should soon get a sense of just how enthusiastic investors are, with the Houston Dash currently seeking a buyer for a control or minority stake. Given the demand for teams and the scarcity of opportunities, with Denver beating out bidders including Cincinnati and Cleveland in the last round of expansion, some around the sport believe the Dash could sell for significantly more than Forbes' valuation of $86 million.
And even as the price tags continue to rise, there is an argument to be made that NWSL teams remain cheap. Forbes values the league's clubs at an average of 8.8 times revenue—lower than in the NBA (11.7x), MLS (9.3x) or the NFL (9x).
'On the men's side, MLS is your newest league of the big leagues, and it's 30 years old,' says Raquel Braun, cofounder of sports consulting firm Mulier Fortis. 'We want this immediate gratification of the same multiples, the same valuations, but the league still has to grow.
'It's building, and it'll get there, and I think it's going to get there faster than some of the male sport counterparts.'
The NWSL's Most Valuable Teams 2025
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To rank the most valuable National Women's Soccer League franchises, Forbes examined recent transaction data and spoke to more than 40 industry insiders, including team and league executives, team owners, investment bankers, advisors and consultants.
Revenue figures are estimated for the 2024 season and are rounded to the nearest $1 million. Playoff and non-league games were excluded from the revenue calculations, as were player transfers.
Team values include the economics of the team's stadium but not the value of the stadium real estate itself. The valuations similarly take into account ancillary revenue streams that are captured in the team's financial statements, such as income from sponsorships or events at the team's practice facility, without directly measuring the value of those other assets.
Expansion clubs in Boston and Denver, which are set to begin play next year, were omitted from the ranking.
Additional reporting by Justin Birnbaum and Justin Teitelbaum.